Category: Uncategorized

After five long years . . . a group of international artists made it happen! We are ready to share a story of inspiration, one to showcase the values of kindness, generosity and humility with the power of diversity and world music to unite us all!

This film is my take back – a childhood dream I had to play the guitar after I lost my lessons when my family went broke. My father took a stand for political honesty in the 1981 union strike of air traffic controllers. He broke his federal contract, risked arrest and heavy fines. We endured years of emotion and financial turmoil.

My hope with our film is for us all to gain the power to rise and take a stand for the values we want in this country . . . and we could do it. Neto says, “believe in yourself to live the dream.” Believe in yourself.

I recall a civil conversation with my former father-in-law ten years ago about the health aspect of smoking cigarettes. He said, “When I learned how bad it was, I knew I had to make a choice. It was on me. So I quit cold turkey.” Our conversation turned to environmental issues. He said, “People are adept at figuring a way when they have to. People will figure it out.”

I valued my former father-in-law. An Italian man who had faced the throes of Mussolini, World War Two, and then educated himself as a high level engineer and immigrated to the United States and thrived. I respected his words because he had lived through unimaginable atrocities and injustices.

When I learned about our environment disaster ten years ago, like you, I was befuddled. I’ve got kids coming into the world, and I began to recognize my role as a responsible parent was no longer about baking cookies for parties or getting my daughter or son to a proverbial soccer practice on time. The stakes had changed, and I needed to get on board fast to see what sort of social change I could muster, especially in my own County of Marin, California which heralds one of the world’s worst carbon producing lifestyles in the United States. Though we can claim to have some of the most powerful, forward thinking environmentalists, such as Author Paul Hawken, Environmentalist Michael Stocker and Filmmaker Louis Psihoyos, the elite lifestyle by many is ruining integrity for the rest of us, yet the financial elite have the most to offer. I recognized that quickly and then had to take a hard look at my own life before I dared to advocate anyone changing their lives.

In 2013 I had the opportunity to make a first time film with children standing for our oceans, recognizing that our love for our children’s future is the gateway for us all to be inspired for social change. My husband wasn’t giving me the support I needed in order to do the film project, so I left him, believing he’d wake up to this immense responsibility I was advocating and join me. Well, he didn’t, and I realized I was quickly disbanded, in survival mode, which felt like a shipwreck, and placed on a solo mission in a highly vulnerable financial and emotional circumstance with a wicked divorce, predatory lawyers, mediators and therapists, my son’s school confused with the facts making my life hell, an organization undermining my efforts, and a too soon girlfriend taking over MY mother duties and throwing me under the bus as a bad mother while those who I had called long time friends started partying with the “girlfriend” before my kids even got “the talk”! (“Can’t you see I’m trying to save our kids’ future!” I tried to shout.) This is a whole other book, and I’ll spare you the details, but feel free to read HERStory so you can avoid the pitfalls I fell into.

I would never advocate divorce for a change of lifestyle, but as a parent who has shifted my entire life from one living in a big house, being financially comfortable, to a couch surfing activist, filmmaker, writer and educator, living paycheck to paycheck, stretching my credit and going to a food bank while I have the IRS and credit card companies on my back because I’ve extended myself on every level to initiate change – I want to assure you, the parents of our kids, DO NOT BE AFRAID OF CHANGE. We have a duty to our children, and we have a duty to their generation. We must unite on all fronts.

And you could probably do it better than me. Learn from my mistakes.

I live today in a small two bedroom apartment, sharing it with another financially strapped immigrant mother and her kids, with LESS noise in my life and less responsibility with MATERIAL STUFF. This has been a blessing not a horror, believe me. The level of freedom I experience now is filled with a richness of community, connecting with local and global citizens who are also making sacrifices for the future our kids – activists, artists, environmentalists, where we are all extending our wings in order to be the light and carve a future path of integrity, honesty, generosity and kindness. We’re being rebels in a system that has become so exploitative and greed oriented – WHAT AN OPPORTUNITY WE HAVE TO BE THE GOOD GUYS!

Yesterday’s rise of our youth was one of the beautiful days I’ve witnessed since I’ve stepped into my own activism – to see our kids understand the priorities in our world today and we have an obligation, a duty, to stand by them right now. And let’s start with our public schools which are disasters and are not taking this issue on the level they should. This has been my story which has positioned me into the “crazy mother” or “thorn in their side” as I’ve tried to fight with our local schools for the last five years understanding a severe lack of nature education, a connection to what is real. I see the values of competition highlighted through aggressive sports rather than cooperation, art, music and dance. I see the books fed to our children, which hold little value than cheap entertainment. I see extravagance fed to the kids with meaningless pom pom throwing parades, expensive school dances without the thoughtful big picture integrity. I see how much technology is fed, without real “people to people” connection or even recognizing technology’s consumerism is leading to an incredible toxic toil on our environment! I see the military recruiting tables at our high schools without the thoughtful foil next to them of environment or peace organizations advocating a wiser society other than the form of violent power, especially given our military has become puppets for the oil industry.

We, as parents, or any other thoughtful, wise human in our country, need to take hard looks at ourselves. The line has been drawn. And as my former father-in-law said, “When I learned how bad it was, I knew I had to make a choice. It was on me. So I quit cold turkey. People will figure out a way when they have to. People will figure it out.”

It’s time to stop cold turkey with all the extravagance and meaningless lifestyles too many of us have been living. Now is the time to rise and figure it out. Fast.

And we can do it.

As for ANY schools who may have an issue with our children’s absence yesterday? Here is a bold message for you: our children are standing for their future. If they have learned their lessons about the atrocities of the Indigenous Peoples, racism, environmental injustices, our kids standing in the protests are an example that they have learned their lessons from you well and are making a choice. Take honor in that instead of punishing them. They are learning how to become leaders and they deserve your support. Work with the movement so we can all rise.

The line has been drawn and our children will remember which side you are on.

And parents, there is nothing more beautiful than watching your own child take a stand – it’s one of the most glorious feelings a parent could ever have. You are doing your job right.

Understand, the fear I felt five years ago when I dropped my entire life to pursue my current path was tremendous. But today, the tide has changed. . . and I recognize that there is no space for fear now. We all must have courage and stick together as we shift on the highest level any recorded civilization has ever had to do, as we know of.

DON’T BE AFRAID to dive deep. We can do it.

(PHOTO ABOVE: My daughter and I had the privilege to dive with the Sylvia Earle family after my first time film Racing with Copepods, a 20 minute advocacy film with 12 kids standing for their oceans – a project which I left dropped my own life to make, diving deep into the world of environmental activism. These were our dive instructors – one of the most beautiful days of my life. I lost college funds to study oceanography at UCSB as a teen when my father stood up to a president and went for broke. )

My advice does not come without a deep level of learning. When I was a thirteen years old child, my own father placed me, my mother and everything we had at stake to break his federal contract, risk arrest, prison, fines and his livelihood, along with my dreams of going to university to study oceanography and play the guitar, in order to stand up to a President of the United States, Ronald Reagan, for political honesty. It was the last great strike of 1981 in this country, the beginning of the fall of our economic middle class, media integrity, environmental responsibility and more post President Jimmy Carter who initiated the first Green Deal with solar and wind initiatives and had proper vision for our country of being indepedent with sustainable energy. “It is the moral equivalent of war” he had said. Perhaps today after 40 years of wars, ocean acidification, oil spills, melting polar ice caps and the growing collapse of the health of our planet we can appreciate the wisdom of Carter’s administration.

It took me nearly 40 years of anger and hatred for my father, after years of emotional and financial turmoil, for me to understand the incredible gift he ultimately gave me – a heritage of values and an understanding of what sacrifice truly means when you go for the long run big thinking instead of short term cheapness of looking good, following rules which are bad rules for us today. We must stand for what is right.

Think big, as Alexandria Ocasio- Cortez says. And she’s got it right.

The film about the 1981 union strike is in the making – a powerful history unwritten in our children’s school books and not valued in our country – the story about military veterans who became air traffic controllers. Their union supported Ronald Reagan who made campaign promises. When those promises were not delivered, the union members had a choice to make between two wrongs: break their contract and stand up to political dishonesty OR go to work and accept dishonesty in their government, during the shadow years of the Vietnam War. Most decided to strike and lost everything – would you have the guts to do what they did for your country? It was one of the greatest acts of solidarity in our country, even when our country did not stand with them. It’s a story of American history that has nearly been forgotten and needs to rise as inspiration today – go for broke to stand for our kids, their environment and political honesty.

And as for those lost guitar lessons? I’m not done yet! Another lesson I’ve learned is our losses can be our greatest gains. . . I’ve completed a film with one of the world’s top guitarists, Brazilian Guitarist Jose Neto, who is no stranger to the power of music. As a former guitarist for Harry Belafonte of thirty years and Steve Winwood for the last twenty, I aim to inspire the values of kindness, humility, generosity and integrity, those that Neto has lived by. This film The Man Behind The White Guitar has been created by an international team of artists from Brazil, UK, New York, Los Angeles and Marin County with hardly any money, demonstrating that it’s spirit the can drive people to higher ground and those who believe in the values of kindness, humility, generosity and integrity. Neto’s song “Burning Money” could set the tone for us all. George Harrison and Paul McCartney have been fans of Neto’s – It’s time to “Imagine” and we can do it.

Step into the dream.

Understand this, when I started the film projects, I had no idea what I was doing. I had never been to film school or even been involved in the documentary film business. I just started doing it and figuring it out. I had never written a book before, let alone self publish a book before. But I started to do it and figured it out. I had never made an international film with the likes of top musicians, but I started to do it and I figured it out. Have faith in yourself and each other to do the unthinkable. Support each other with our dreams. And when you help one person rise, you rise too. We can all rise.

We did it! The Man Behind the White Guitar screened at the village hall in Guiting Power, UK on March 4 following two amazing music events by the Netoband.

Their performance at London’s Ronnie Scotts was amazing, as reviewed by The London Jazz News. The following night they performed at the Village Hall in Guiting Power, which harkened engineers with state of the arts sound and light to create a place where one foellow long term fan Berkin Altinok said “this is the Winwood ‘Deep State’.”

Keep an eye out for upcoming screenings of our film. We’ve released the film to film festivals and completed an amazing poster! This film is not just about a legacy Brazilian Guitarist, we think our story can remind all of us the values of kindness, generosity, humility and the power of music to move souls. “Believe in yourself to live the dream,” and Neto walks the talk. . . as certain as his music electrifies the spirit.

Roughly 20,000 working class union members took a stand for political honesty in the forgotten 1981 national union strike of PATCO, Professional Air Traffic Control Organization.

They were willing to lose everything in order to stand for political honesty. And many did lose it all, including homes, livelihood and family. Yet these working class union members took the burden courageously and honorably without incurring any violence as our country turned their backs on what should be the highest responsibility of every citizen in this country – always stand for honesty.

Let’s remember the guts and dignity of a class of workers who could show us, the American people, our power today.

Campaign promises had been made just the year before by the incoming conservative rising star Ronald Reagan, who labeled himself pro union, given his work with Hollywood’s Actors’ Guild. After years of negotiations, these strikers wanted better equipment and working conditions. My dad, one of the strikers, had the equipment fail on him once putting many people in the air at risk. He was made for the job and had an unyielding calm of dealing with any crisis, gifted with a memory for details. The strike was illegal as federal employees are banned from striking, but, like my father, many believed they were standing for a greater good – political honesty for the American people.

Reagan, The Hero of the Republican Party, took a hard stance and gave the union forty eight hours to get back to work which shocked everyone. Some believed there were back room deals being made. But there weren’t. I was 13 years old, and I remember the gripping stand off well and the hours of those days were tense, filled with anxiety and guilt. Everyone believed there would be a terrible airline crash because of the lack of skilled air traffic controllers, a job that takes years of training. I laid awake all night in a state of fear waiting for the FBI to arrest my father. They didn’t get him, but they got other union members.

The media was not kind toward the union as they wrote anti union stories emphasizing the union’s greed for more money. Allies and other unions turned their backs on the strikers, though they were watching, as some had ideas to strike too. PATCO leaders were being fined $1000 a day and others were put in prison.

My parents hid nothing from me. I attended the rallies, joined the meetings when the media bursted in hunting and pecking for stories, as it felt. We watched our backs wondering if the FBI were following us or watching us or tapping our phones.

“If the black coats come to the door, go to your room and shut the door,” my father had said to me. Would the FBI arrest the entire family? The fear was tremendous.

In the final hours my father had to make a personal final decision – to lose his job with an uncertain future and put his own family in financial uncertainty or return to work with his tail between his legs. My grandfather said my dad’s strike was ego driven and told him listen to Reagan, as Reagan said he’d put our country back together. Everyone respected my grandfather, a self made man and WW2 veteran.

We sat together at the kitchen table as Ted Koppel blared the ongoing news from the nearby living room.

My mother said to him, “It’s your job. You have to make the decision.”

My dad never wavered. Not once. “Campaign promises were made. I voted for him. I’m not going back,” he said.

In the end. 13,000 members were fired and the union went bankrupt. My family went broke and spun into emotional and financial turmoil for years. My grandfather laid the blame on my dad driving him to drink and we still to this day feel the jolt of that union bust, ripping my family into political factions and sides.

But, more importantly, our entire country suffered, as that strike broke many unions across the country, cultivating the catalyst for the rise of the 1% today and the exploitative labor industry we endure every day in this country. The reason millenials work multiple jobs at slave-like wages, why teachers can’t afford to live in the very neighborhoods they serve and why we have succumbed to accepting the fact a full time job can keep you in poverty in our country today. This is why they had striked and why unions are needed, to protect against big business bullies and safeguard the workers.

President Jimmy Carter had warned us about Ronald Reagan. “He’s a right wing radical,” he had said. Carter also warned the American people about other values we were losing as a nation. And he practically screamed the warning to the American people in his Crisis of Confidence Speech of 1979 when he said the people were beginning to value money over purpose and that being dependent on foreign oil is the “moral equivalent of war.” The people blamed Carter for not leading the people. And the GOP slammed Carter for that speech calling it “MEOW”.

President Jimmy Carter today is nearly a forgotten president, though he is well and alive at 94 years, continuing his writing and summits at The Carter Center. Mainstream media continues to portray him as weak, indecisive and a peanut farmer, despite acknowledging his profound work in The Navy, including technological advances in nuclear energy, his profound work in civil rights/human rights and his anti establishment position not catering to big money.

Yet, it wasn’t Carter who failed – it was an entire generation that did not listen to the greatest advice of a visionary leader, of a president who was actually encouraging the people of America to rise up against big money and oil companies! Carter was essentially pushing the American people to be activists against big money and oil companies. Instead, the Boomer generation opted for a life of comfort and values of exploitation, as they remain stuck heralding stories of the 1960s.

As we look back on Carter’s legacy, including his initiatives of the solar panels on the White House and 17,000 wind turbines in the State of California, as he pushed for sustainable energy, we can recalibrate our history and recognize the people of the United States of America has been dealing with forty years of fake news about our country’s greatest living leader, The Father of the Solar Age and as Bob Dylan calls him “The Rock’n Roll President”.

This historical review matters more today than ever before because it helps us understand that pivotal 1980 election and a cultural shift in our country that brings focus on today’s leaders, both Republican and Democrats, and how we failed as a nation to listen to the most profound leadership, censoring truth and supporting the most corrupt political leaders who have caused wars, death, destruction across the world for forty years to maintain a generation’s comfort level and big money interests.

I find it appalling that Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi and President Barack Obama can still honor Reagan. Pelosi helped raise Reagan’s statue in Washington, D.C. and Obama spoke glowingly of Reagan at Senator McCain’s funeral. I also find it absurd that the Democrats could allow Reagan to be inducted into the Labor Hall of Fame just this past March 2018, but, then again, perhaps it was the Democrats who helped elect Reagan in 1980 and no one wants to talk about that failure.

As an environmentalist, I am shocked over and over how many of our leaders, including Al Gore, could possibly talk about environmental issues without talking about Carter. I’ve asked and they have dismissed me. I’ve come to the conclusion that our environmental mission has become nothing but a competitive save the world “superman ego-drive” all stepping on one another to be the leader, while we undermine all the work done by previous leaders. It’s a game driven by pure narcisism than genuine collaboration to save ourselves and our children’s future as our planet faces ecological collapse.

And this news retrospective will likely never go viral. Why? Because it’s the establishment who has the reigns of the media, education, politics and money, all which are power. And nobody with money wants to talk about the power of unions.

It’s time to honor President Jimmy Carter and recognize him as the unsung hero who has walked his talk and demonstrated with his life the power of humility, kindness, generosity and vision.

We Americans have blood on our hands. It’s time to come clean. We can take a stand just like those air traffic controllers of 1981 and go for broke to put our country . . . our entire planet . . . back together, for our children and future generations. And we can do it.

Her documentary film The Man Behind The White Guitar about Brazilian Guatarist Jose Pires de Almeida Neto releases in 2019, as a message of honesty, peace, kindness and integrity – and to never lose our power to IMAGINE and live big dreams.

The People’s Environmental News Hour!

with Barbara McVeigh & Charlie Siler

Tuesday nights at 7pm

Time to get real AND time to turn this world around!

and DEMAND our leadership recognize the people doing the
GOOD WORK FOR ALL OF US.

If they don’t, WE WILL.

Tune into Channel 26 in Marin County or cmcm.tv. Charlie Siler and I have lined up inspirational game changers, those who are helping us, the people, steer the course of environmental responsibility and stewardship.

OUR TUESDAY NIGHT SHOWS ARE LIVE AND RECORDED
Rebroadcast on THURSDAY 10:30AM.

October 2 – The Father of the Solar Age, President Jimmy Carter Tribute
It’s the big question – Carter had solar panels on the White House and pushed for sustainable energy.It’s the Jimmy Carter Jamboree week and we will honor Carter with a film made in 1980 by Robert Redford called The Solar Film and talk to one the White House solar installer Tom Strumolo, of Energy General LLC, who has never abandoned Carter’s vision for the power of the sun.

I’m pretty sure I met a saint in the cornfields of the Guatemalan mountains. She is the mother of Gaby and I was lucky enough to live the life of Gaby, an immigrant to the United States who has not seen her mother for 17 years.

The original intention was to meet the family of Claudia, the young 20 year old Maya Indigenous woman who was shot point blank in the head at our borders on May 23. When I did meet the beautiful parents who live in a small Mayan mountainous community, they warmly welcomed me and allowed me to share letters from across our country, words of hope and love believing that there is a better way to solve our border issues than that of violence.

Thank you to the San Francisco Immigration Legal and Education Network, The Unitarian Church in San Antonio, Texas, the Methodist Church of San Rafael, United Airlines, International Artists of Marin, Seahorse Restaurant in Sausalito and many individuals for their support and sponsorship of this journey.

I am currently working with Gaby Mazariegos and Rina Santizo for a presentation about Guatemala and their dreams of El Norte. I’ll share my journey of meeting some of the most beautiful people in the world – mothers, fathers, sons and daughters, farmers and more – those who carry big dreams and can teach Americans values of simplicity, kindness, generosity and community. More to come!

I was devastated by the news of Claudia Patricia Gomez Gonzalez who was murdered by the US Border Control on May 23. This young 20 year Maya indigenous woman had a dream – to have an education. Why were we not there to support her with a dream?

I spent time in Guatemala 20 years ago. I also had a dream to travel the world and have an education, which had been difficult to do. My family didn’t have money and I had to scrape and fight for both of those dreams. I remember my first trip to Guatemala when I sat on the great temple of Tikal in the Peten region and marveled at the beauty of nature, culture and history and pondered how it was possible that in my schooling I had never learned about this magnificent country and indigenous history given the fact it’s just south of our border.

I returned to Guatemala a few years later and traveled by canoe down the Usamacinto River, the old Maya route, when a young military man who had first frightened me (we were in the middle of nowhere) handed me a baby bird, a gift. And as the canoe continued down the river and a deluge of rain and lightening began, I released the baby bird with a wish for freedom and peace in the world. Perhaps that is why I am being called to Quetzaltenango, the hometown of Claudia Patricia Gomez Gonzalez. The iridiscent Quetzal symbolized the movement of Creation and the will of the Creator come to earth. We all need to believe in goodness, and that is my full intention for this mission.

On June 19 I fly to Guatemala to take all proceeds that we can collect to benefit the family of Claudia Patricia Gomez Gonzalez. My message to the family is that there are good people in the United States who believe in better ways than killing. We want to be friends and we are horribly sorry that we have not been able to stop the violence.

I have the support of the local Guatemalan community in my county of Marin. I have been involved with many families and have done my best to support immigrant women either through work efforts, language instruction and accommodations. I personally have learned so much from this amazing community, such as the strength and beauty of generosity, kindness and loyalty. We can learn greatly through collaboration and friendship.

Please email me if you can support this mission. Given that most families in the mountains live on $1/day, all support will be great.

The donations I collect will go directly to Claudia’s mother and I will post photos on my Facebook page.

Sept 20-22 California 2020 Vision Art Installation It’s a weekend of visionary leaders and positive energy and we’ll be there! Artist Gina Musser takes lead in our first art installation to bring attention to The Man Behind the White Guitar film project and the musicians in the film, such as Harry Belafonte, Narada Michael Walden, Steve Winwood and others, who have powerful words of inspiration of unity and peace. We hope to release the film early next year and if you haven’t seen the trailer, check it out!

April 21– Berkeley Yacht Club, Berkeley – film screening of Racing With Copepods. Peter Hayes of Pegasus will bring the boat to the docks after a day of training new crew to get kids out and sailing!

April 25 – Spaulding Boat Works, Sausalito The magic of a wooden boat – that’s the back story of Racing with Copepods. Film Producer Barbara McVeigh screens her short ocean documentary, filmed right here on San Francisco Bay, featuring Dr. Sylvia Earle and narrated by Kimball Livingston.

Dr. Lance Morgan, President of Marine Conservation Institute, will join the post film conservation to share information about The Global Ocean Refuge System (GLORES) and why it’s imperative to address ocean issues today.

Magic Bear will be at the docks to inspire all!

Barbara’s great uncle Robert Keleher owned Bear Boat #65, named Magic. He inspired her to sail and to fall in love with the ocean, resulting in this film and other environmental projects. Bear boats were originally built right here in Sausalito by the Nunes Brothers, and Bear Boat #1, Merry Bear, lives at the Maritime Museum in San Francisco.

Charlie Siler, cohost of People’s Environmental News, will provide a few tunes on his guitar!

I love the oceans. The oceans gave me complete freedom and the value of freedom. I will never turn my back on the oceans. Never.

Our oceans are under threat more now than ever before. As we face the hard truths of ocean acidification and the horrific plastic pollution that now saturates our vast waters, beaches and waterways, we MUST come clean with our horrific landlubber habits. From our addiction to automobiles to consumptive behaviors, now is time to tack to a new course before it’s too late and this generation views us as the most criminal pirate gang the world has ever seen. We MUST take responsibility. It’s not a question about “education,” it’s about activism and responsibility.

You’re either on board, or your not. It’s as simple as that.

Here is my article on Sailing Anarchy, describing my own passion and why I have it. And maybe it’s your passion too, a quality you didn’t even know you possessed. And if you’re not feeling it, NOW is the time to get into the groove. We can do it! Just listen to Simon and Garfunkel’s song. They’ll get you inspired! And you’ll start feeling the groovy.

It’s that easy! We can do it!

Comments can be made through the regulations.gov web portal. Navigate to http://www.regulations.gov and under the Search tab, in the space provided, type in Docket ID: BOEM-2017-0074 to submit comments and to view other comments already submitted. Information on using www.regulations.gov, including instructions for accessing documents, submitting comments, and viewing the docket after the close of the comment period, is available through the links under the box entitled “Are you new to this site?”

Comments can also be made by mail, in an envelope labeled “Comments for the 2019-2024 Draft Proposed National Oil and Gas Leasing Program” and mailed (or hand delivered) to Ms. Kelly Hammerle, Chief, National Oil and Gas Leasing Program Development and Coordination Branch, Leasing Division, Office of Strategic Resources, Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (VAM-LD), 45600 Woodland Road, Sterling, VA 20166-9216, telephone (703) 787-1613. Written comments may also be hand delivered at a public meeting to the BOEM official in charge.